Archaic term for a prisoner or captive. Not used in modern Japanese; encountered only in historical texts or classical literature.
古文書には「累囚を解き放つ」と記されている。
The ancient document records 'release the prisoners'.
Archaic kanji form for 'prisoner'. The character 累 carries a sense of 'binding' or 'involvement'.
Variant archaic spelling using 縲, which specifically means 'bind' or 'tie up'.
Variant archaic spelling using 纍, an older form of 累.
The exact derivation is uncertain. The kanji 累 (bind/accumulate) and 囚 (prisoner) combine to suggest a bound captive, but the word is archaic and its historical origin is not clearly documented.